boozer
"Uhm, hey, Carlos...WOULD YOU PLEASE HIT A GODDAMN SHOT?!"

The Indiana Pacers: The nightmare continues. The Pacers have led at halftime all three games. They have held a fourth quarter lead in all three games. They have played the Bulls to a standstill in all three games.

Yet they are 0-3 and on the brink of elimination.

Last night, the Bulls shot 39 percent, gave up 18 points off 16 turnovers, surrendered 15 offensive rebounds and suffered through a 4-for-18 shooting night from Derrick Rose...and won.

This is how close it was:


Was that a travel? You be the judge:


Rose's layup made the highlights, but the real game-breaker was Kyle Korver, who said "Flame the fuck on!" and scored 10 points on 4-for-4 shooting in a three-minute stretch of the fourth quarter. Korver's hot streak began with the Pacers up 70-66 and ended with the Bulls ahead 80-76. As Stacey King would say: "HOT SAUCE!"

Give the Pacers credit. They are The Little Engine That Almost Could. That said, shooting 37.9 percent from the field and going 1-for-10 from downtown in a veritable must-win game qualifies as a "Major Fail" in my book. And you know what qualifies as an "Epic Fail"? The one-on-five bullshit shot Darren Collison pulled the possession before Rose's go-ahead layup. And here's what Danny Granger thought of Collison's shot selection:


Of course, Granger's three-point attempt with 2.2 seconds left was even uglier than the crappy crap Collison chucked up. And Danny knows it.

Said Granger: "We didn't get the look we wanted. That was the best shot we could get. That wasn't the way we wanted it, but that was the way it happened."

Here's more on Indy's fourth quarter fail courtesy of ESPN Stats and Information: "While it wasn't pretty, the Bulls' win over the Pacers followed the same familiar scripts as in the first two games with Chicago's defense tightening up in the 4th quarter. Chicago held Indiana to just 17 points in the 4th quarter on 8-23 shooting. For the series, the Bull are holding the Pacers to 35.4 pct from the floor in the final frame."

Updated! Jeff Foster's Bill Laimbeer impression: He's been at it since Game 1:


This Laimbeer act continued last night:


I don't have the video of it, but after that foul on Rose, Foster brought an elbow down on Luol Deng's head without making any real effort to go after the basketball. Hard playoff fouls are one thing. But swiping arms and elbows in the general direction of peoples' heads and faces in that "Hey! I'm Just Putting My Arms Up!" way is dirty.

The league is now reviewing Foster's fouls.

Update! The weird running guy: Basketbawful reader gf sent in this video:


Joakim Noah, quote machine: On Rose: "We got the best closer in the world. And everybody knows it. And they know it. And we know it. And their coach knows it. And they say it, too. They have no problem saying it. And we all know it, so that's definitely gives confidence to our team."

Kyle Korver, quote machine: Also on Rose: "I would just like to be athletic for a day, let alone be Derrick Rose for a day. I mean this dude, you watch some of these guys and you're just like, 'If I could move like that, this would be a totally different game.' Could you imagine? If I could run and jump like that, you'd shoot whenever you want. That would be incredible. Obviously, it's not going to happen."

Kyle Korver, unintentionally dirty quote machine: Again on Rose: "A lot of things about him are really amazing, but his ability to take that pounding and keep going."

The Philadelphia 76ers: Doug Collins was right. The cHeat are the better team.

Dwyane Wade went crazy (32 points, 10 rebounds, 8 assists). LeBron James went crazy (24 points, 15 rebounds, 6 assists). Chris Bosh was, uhm, mildly unstable (19 points, 6 rebounds, 3 blocked shots). The Nazgul had a 28-19 advantage in free throw attempts over the entire Sixers team. The rest of the cHeat managed only 25 points...but it didn't matter. The 2.5 superstars were too much for Philly.

What do you do?


What do you do?


No, really. What do you do?


Said LeBron: "This is what we envisioned."

The Sixers played tough. They did. Just like the Pacers, Philly played a superior opponent to a standstill heading into the fourth quarter. That's when the Sixers were outscored 27-19 en route to a 100-94 loss that virtually ended the series.

Said Collins: "I'm a moral person, but I don't like moral victories."

I guess I could focus on the misdirected shooting of Andre Iguodala (3-for-10), Jodie Meeks (2-for-8) and Thaddeus Young (1-for-8), but what's the point? Philly couldn't do anything with the Super Friends, who scored 23 of Miami's 27 fourth quarter points (and two of the non-them points came on James Jones' meaningless free throws with three seconds left). All you have to do is glance at the play-by-play to understand that the Sixers couldn't stop the cHeat's big guns down the stretch. All three of those guys took turns scoring.

Philly's just overmatched. And their rebounding sucked. The cHeat set a franchise record by grabbing 20 offensive rebounds. They scored 24 points off those second chances.

Said Collins: "All I have to say is 20 offensive rebounds. That's the end of the story. We can sit here and dance around it all we want. That's the game."

Zydrunas Ilgauskas, legally declared "a statue" in 17 countries, nabbed eight of those offensive boards.

Said Bosh: "Z probably jumps two inches off the ground. But he has such long arms and his tip game is great."

The Sixers will have all summer to think about Ilgauskas' long arms. Starting right after Game 4. Or maybe they can use the extra time off to go see Boobs and Goombas: a Super Mario Burlesque.


The Dallas Mavericks: Let's see: No hot shooting from Jason Kidd (8 points, 3-for-9, 2-for-8 from downtown) or Peja Stojakovic (7 points, 3-for-7, 1-for-4 on threes), no double-digit fourth quarter scoring outbursts from Dirk Nowitzki, and no victory for the Mavericks.

Brandon Roy was "treated a little better" last night and scored 16 points on 6-for-10 shooting in 23:39 off the bench. Meanwhile, Wesley Matthews toyed with Dallas like Road Runner toys with coyotes, scoring 25 points on 8-for-12 shooting. Yes, those 25 points were a playoff career-high.

Basically, Portland's backcourt ruled this game. Matthews and Roy and point guard Andre Miller combined for 57 points on 20-of-35 shooting. By comparison, Matthews and Roy combined for 17 points in the first two games.

Another big factor was foul shooting. Dallas had a 23-21 advantage in free throw attempts but the Blazers had a 17-13 advantage in makes. The Mavs went 5-for-10 from the foul line in the fourth quarter. And lost by five.

Shaqnopsis strikes again.

Said Dirk: "The free throws hurt. I missed three today, two (actually one) in the fourth quarter, and we had our opportunities. We had our opportunities."

That last line should probably be engrabed on the tombstone of the Nowitzki era Mavs: "We had our opportunities."

Update! Officiating fail: I forgot to mention that Kidd hit a 24-foot "two-pointer" with 12 seconds left to cut Portland's lead to 95-92. Now, had that shot been reviewed (as it should have been), the lead would've been 95-93. Now, maybe Andre Miller goes on to hit his free throws and it doesn't matter...or maybe he doesn't. We'll never know.

Update! Portland fans: Somebody in the Rose Garden threw something that hit Mark Cuban in the face. People shouldn't throw things that hit Cuban in the face. Because it's wrong and stuff.

Chris' Playoff Lacktion Ledger:

Bulls-Pacers: Omer Asik allocated his 2:56 stint between one steal and one foul, earning the bovines a 1:0 Madsen-level Voskuhl.

Mavs-Frail Blazers: Tyson Chandler toyed with four boards and a field goal in 15:24 as starting big man only to take a rejection, lose the rock once, and foul out for a 7:6 Voskuhl. Starting guard DeShawn Stevenson turned over the ball once for a +1 in 4:20.

Labels: ,

61 Comments:
Anonymous Anonymous said...
Portland finally did the obvious and had Andre Miller post up Barea whenever he came into the game. That should be automatic- if Barea is on the court, post him up with a bigger guard (which is every guard in the NBA).

This game would have gone the other way if Portland didn't shoot the hell out of the 3 (8-14), and Dallas didn't gag at the FT line (13-23).

Once again, it just comes down to a few makes/misses. I still like Dirk in crunch time better than anyone on Portland.

Dallas in 5

Anonymous Anonymous said...
Yeah, that was a travel. But D-Rose is just following in the (many) footsteps of D-Wade.

Blogger Will said...
According to Joakim Noah, neither the Pacers, the Bulls, nor Frank Vogel belong to the set of "everybody".

Anonymous kazam92 said...
The guy who uploaded those Heat highlights spelled Dwyane Dwayne. How dare he. I'm furious.

Anonymous Anonymous said...
They actually did review Kidd's two point shot. From the angle the refs had, there was no space between his toe and the line.

Anonymous kazam92 said...
Oh and did no one catch Steve Kerr's lengthy Freudian slip after the Heat won? I watched the local broadcast, but I heard a lot of ppl mention it. Something about the heat dying in a bus crash

Anonymous Anonymous said...
That D-Rose drive looks like a hop step. I think he gathered before placing his second step which would be legal then.

Anonymous flunze said...
http://www.mysanantonio.com/mediaManager/?controllerName=image&action=get&id=949377&width=628&height=471

Baaaaaalll.

Blogger Dick Sullivan said...
That last line should probably be engrabed on the tombstone of the Nowitzki era Mavs: "We had our opportunities."

Hilarious for anyone outside of the Big D. I hate you.

Why can't it be, "Before you you say anything, let me remind you how shitty the franchise was before I got here"?

Anonymous Shiv said...
How in the blue blazes was the Rose drive a travel? Looked like a pretty clean gather + 2 steps to me which is pretty much what everyone and their momma does anyway.

Anonymous Batmanu said...
John Hollinger (insider) says:

"Thus far, that's exactly what we're getting. Through Thursday's games, virtually every stereotype of postseason basketball has held up, with the exception of Dallas having a lead in its series."

LOL

Anonymous Anonymous said...
During that "first" step, rose was still gathering the ball. step 2 in the video is actually step one so no travel.

also both feet have to hit ground at same time to be legal hop step, but since he only took 2 steps total, the move was legal

Blogger Dan B. said...
FYI everyone, I will not have an opportunity to put up a BAD post tonight. I will however be taking an impromptu Basketbawful field trip! My buddy Corey has scored a couple tickets to the Derby Festival Basketball Classic tonight here in Louisville. I'll try to see what kind of post I can write about it later...

Blogger senormedia said...
Zydrunas Ilgauskas, legally declared "a statue" in 17 countries

I spit sweet tea on the keyboard. Thanks.

Blogger Wormboy said...
For what it's worth, in the second Foster foul, it's Hansbrough that got his hands up in Rose's mug. But that's just playoff basketball, man. They're seeing if they can psych Rose out. Totally legitimate stuff as long as there are no truly dirty takedowns.

I think Chicago needs a Charles "Foul Jordan Again Like That and They'll Take You Outta Here on a Back Board" Oakley. :)


@Korver: LOL! Kudos for him being honest. Can he be the Bulls Paxson/Kerr? Dunno, but he's giving a decent impression now. He'll have to do it on a bigger stage, of course. That and lose the Bieber do. Freakin John Paxson wouldn't have a haircut like that.

Anonymous Rick said...
How many times do people have to review this until the average NBA fan knows what the freaking traveling rules are. Do NOT count steps until the hand is underneath the ball or a second hand has touched the ball (aka, they've gathered the ball). That drive was obviously two steps.

It's disturbing how many blogs are dedicated to reviewing the rules of the "incompetent" NBA refs yet no one seems to understand this rule.

Anonymous Austin said...
I was at the Dallas - Portland game and during the timeout they reviewed Jason Kidd's 3 it and still said 2.

Anonymous TransINSANO said...
I know its really cool when they go in, but someone should tell Chris Paul he doesn't HAVE to shoot a 3 at the end of the quarter.

Anonymous Mladen said...
As much as I don't care about the Hawks and the Magic, I hope the Hawks win the series. The Pumaman needs to keep those fuckin' elbows to himself, and Jason Richardson should stop pretending he's a badass. Especially when he's basically standing up for the guy who almost "accidentally" knocked out another player.

Blogger Wormboy said...
@ Rick: "How many times do people have to review this until the average NBA fan knows what the freaking traveling rules are. Do NOT count steps until the hand is underneath the ball or a second hand has touched the ball (aka, they've gathered the ball). That drive was obviously two steps.

It's disturbing how many blogs are dedicated to reviewing the rules of the "incompetent" NBA refs yet no one seems to understand this rule."



I grant you this is true. But maybe we should reflect on the nature of yet another rule that is made too difficult to be readily understandable to a viewer, all in the name of making the game more "viewer friendly?" Some NBA rules have gotten pretty complicated all in the name of increasing scoring and viewership (and thereby increasing revenues). To an outsider the game can be kind of mystifying. On the occasions my wife watches with me, she gets pretty confused by some of the calls. She's not dumb; she manages multi-million dollar budgets and crafts long and perfectly lucid pieces of prose. Why should the NBA rules elude her? I have to explain that this rule was put into place so perimeter players could get to the rim more readily, but that the same principle doesn't really apply to interior players. Or why when driver X bounces off an interior guy on a drive it's not a foul, but when LeBron drives quickly around the wing, the defender not moving his feet quickly enough is a blocking foul and not LeBron invading the defender's personal space.

In college ball the only thing she has trouble seeing is 3 seconds though she's now confused by moving screens and the like, now that NCAA is becoming more like NBA.


The upshot is that maybe the league is at fault for their fans being unclear on calls?

Blogger Ragib said...
"Or why when driver X bounces off an interior guy on a drive it's not a foul, but when LeBron drives quickly around the wing, the defender not moving his feet quickly enough is a blocking foul and not LeBron invading the defender's personal space."

Sure sounds like your letting your fan hatred against LeBron get in the way of you explaining the game in an unbiased way to your wife. The NBA, and Basketball leagues in general, aren't primary schools. There is no personal space radius that each player is just allowed to have. Yea, you don't get position set in time, it's a blocking foul, not a charge - that's the rule and how it's usually called. It's not like only LeBron gets those. And if a player gets bumped on a drive and theres no call, check if the defender jumped straight up, because then its legal, not a foul.

As much as everyone seems to think, LeBron and Wade and Kobe and every superstar in the league don't get every single call made in their favor. Maybe occasionally theres some star treatment going on, but the vast majority of the time those guys really earn it, or they just moved too fast for the ref to realize the right call - can you say that's the players fault? Unless you think there's some conspiracy where those players are directly involved in influencing the referees, then you should direct your anger at the referees maybe, or David Stern for not taking better actions to improve officiating, but not the players.

Anonymous Anonymous said...
The Knicks are back, baby

Blogger zyth said...
1, the vid for Foster elbowing Deng
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zOt-DGI6mE0

2, both were upgraded to flagrant-1, but no suspension in sight

Anonymous Anonymous said...
LeBron receives ungodly treatment in terms of fouls. He has not fouled out in 3 years and has had 5 about 6 times. This is a guy whose go to offense move is to drop his shoulder into people and push them aside. I would say 1/3 of Lebron's drives are offensive fouls. He is allowed to freight train players in a way that is downright dangerous given how strong he is.

Anonymous greggrant said...
watch the left elbow of Rose as he goes at Foster after the hard foul in game 3: this is exactly what earned a lot of T-s for D.Howard.
Let's also make Rose an evil guy for not taking hard fouls well!

Anonymous kazam92 said...
So you're saying because LeBron is so powerful, he shouldn't use it to his advantage? I guess Karl Malone should have settled for 15 footers all these years then huh?

Blogger tonious35 said...
The Time is 5:17 pm, Noah nails and And-1 and Matt McHale just got a rally-boner....

Blogger Paul said...
Wow, what a fucking choke job by Indiana. 14 seconds left in the 4th up by three but gave away a 14 pt lead with 3 fucking minutes left!!!

If the Bulls end up sweeping, could this be the worst 4th quarter team in play off history?

Anonymous Anonymous said...
Nothing beats seeing D-Rose mucking up a 3-on-1 break. MVP! MVP!

Anonymous kazam92 said...
Oh and Chris Boshy Bear got married in secret apparently. And yes to a woman

Anonymous TransINSANO said...
Wow, that selfish whiners dumb sense of machismo is HUGE! Everyone still think he should have just kept quiet on the bench?

Also, the tombstone of the Dirk-era Mavs should read, "Died of Playoff Asphyxia."

Anonymous Anonymous said...
"If the Bulls end up sweeping, could this be the worst 4th quarter team in play off history?"

Indiana failed, but no worries, Mavs got you covered. Epic choke job! Go Blazers! :)

Anonymous Anonymous said...
Why the hell does Rose take so many shots? Is the rest of the team really that bad?

Oh and the Mavs were up 3-1 basically, if it wasn't for the fact that they are the fucking Mavs.

Anonymous TransINSANO said...
Oh and the Mavs were up 3-1 basically, if it wasn't for the fact that they are the fucking Mavs.

That's how they roll. The best part of the annual cycle is when they (ok, mostly Jason Terry) try to act tough and say they're "a different Mavs team," thereby acknowledging the problem is real, that it's in their heads, and setting themselves up to prove it again. It's as good as saying "I'll be right back" in a horror movie. Yeah, let us know how that turns out for you.

Anonymous Batmanu said...
I guess we found out what happens when Roy gets treated better. Did he borrow some menisci from a cadaver in the last few days?

I love having a friend that is a lifelong Mavs fan.

Anonymous Anonymous said...
Quote from Matt Mosley after game 3:
Sure, Blazers icon Brandon Roy scored 16 points off the bench and inspired his teammates, but does anyone expect him to repeat that performance?

I expected it :)

Blogger stephanie g said...
So as a fan am I supposed to only be proud of Indy being competitive every game and being so scrappy, gritty, etc. or am I allowed to be mad and disappointed they choke away huge leads every game? I mean this game...it just seems they won by chance, or because Chi is tired of making these huge comebacks. But the way they play! Like they've never seen a trap in their lives. And holding onto the ball with 5 mins left instead of running an offense. Ugh.

TransINSANO: No, the misplaced machismo was when he played a couple days after having knee surgery for pretty much no reason. You were right the other day though, the organization was dumb too for letting that happen. There's always plenty of blame to go around for things like that.

As for the Mavs, if they're the chokingest team of all time who's 2nd? Is anyone else close? The '60s Lakers maybe? We need to make a top 5 list or something.

Anonymous Anonymous said...
Grizzlies anyone?

Anonymous Geert said...
Unintentionally (or is it?) dirty tweet from Ron Artest: "Many teams have a threesome Lakers might have an 8some Lol"

Anonymous TransINSANO said...
Was that reluctant but clutch Zach Randolph three like coming full circle, or a cosmic joke? The gods are laughing. Though, if I was a Grizz fan I might be worried because predictably he had no problem shooting the next long jumper. That three might have awakened evil Zach:

http://basketbawful.blogspot.com/2008/02/zach-randolph-and-worst-possession-i.html

No Zach! The reason it actually went in this time is BECAUSE you didn't want to shoot it, but it was actually an appropriate basketball play in context; go back into the paint now!

stephanie g: Yeah, if I were a Pacers fan, and I did quite like the Miller-era Pacers, I'd be extremely disappointed. They could have easily swept this series with a win today just as well as the Bulls could have. Well, except for that being the team down 0-3 part, but you know what I mean; this series should be 2-2. They've played the Bulls evenly and have almost nothing to show for it. Even today's victory was most notable for the Bulls amazing almost-comeback at the end. Bigger picture: What's with the NBA Playoffs this year? Every series has been somewhat competitive. Both 1-8 matchups have all gone down to the wire, and the Grizzlies could actually upset the Spurs. For all the "super team" fears, nobody is a walkover anymore, not even the 8th seed in the East.

As for chokingist teams... the 60's Lakers was more a tribute to the Celtics and Russell's greatness... uhhh, yeah, that's what happened! And hey, all that pain culminated in them actually winning one; Mavericks can't say that yet. This is who they are until proven otherwise.

Anonymous Cristi said...
So, living on the other side of the world form America and being a Blazers fan means that if I want to watch a live NBA game, especially a Portland home game, I have to stay up until about 6 or 7 a.m., which is not very feasible. So I don't get to watch too many NBA games during a year.

Last night I did. I watched some of the most horrendous offensive basketball up until the 3 minute mark in the 3rd, when the Mavs were up by 20, the Blazers hadn't made a field goal in the quarter and their point total was 41. Naturally, I said to hell with this I'm going to bed. Now I want to cry. I almost wish the Blazers had lost so I wouldn't have missed anything.

Anyway, is there any case in recorded history where a player bitches about his role and about not being respected and then actually going on and helping his team win a game?

Blogger zhuts said...
The banner should be remade to feature only Mavs players. Given recent history, the new millenia Mavs are easily the bawfullest team of all time.

Blogger Ragib said...
Brandon Roy's 4th quarter performance is truly one for the ages.

Blogger marlin said...
Carlos LOOZER he screams like a bitch everytime he has the ball stolen

Blogger Ragib said...
Cristi - you don't have to watch games live. Especially since you don't live in america, theres not much chance that on your daily news you'll see results, or people talking about the game during the day. I live in Australia and I watch about 70% of the games a few hours after they are done.

Blogger Wormboy said...
Yesterday morning I found a hairball from the cat, and wondered whether it predicted the Mavs' future, like those mystics who read owl pellets or chicken innards. Damn me for not posting it here, since the thought crossed my mind.

Anonymous Czernobog said...
Did everyone Catch J.R Smith's sour grapes at the end of game 3? Hilariously bawful.

Anonymous TransINSANO said...
The banner should be remade to feature only Mavs players. Given recent history, the new millenia Mavs are easily the bawfullest team of all time.

Actually, I've thought for a while it should be LeBron in his Italian tablecloth shirt from The Decision or the Nazgul posing and preening at their pre-season championship celebration.

Found this interesting:
http://twitter.com/WojYahooNBA/status/62217796494430209
@WojYahooNBA I wonder how D'Antoni will do w/o Nash RT @DDuggan21: D'Antoni says of Rondo: "I'd like to see him play on Minnesota and see how he does."

Maybe D'Antoni was being literal since that's where he's going to be coaching in a couple years (before his final stop with the Clippers). I mean, the balls on this guy. Is someone ever going to tell D'Antoni that he's barely half a coach at this point, let alone one respected enough to get away with that? I hear he has the same attitude with his own players too, but what's he tell them for respect exactly? "Don't you know who I am, I'm Mike D'Antoni, I've won 62 games in the regular season!"

Anonymous Aaron said...
lebron missed another clutch shot!!!! espn refuses to acknowledge it!!!! everything is so predictable.

Blogger LotharBot said...
As a Nuggets fan, this postseason has greatly saddened me. 12 missed free throws (and a couple bad calls) cost us game 1. 15 missed free throws cost us game 3. The team playing the first quarter of game 2 like they were afraid of the paint meant we were never even in it. We could so easily be up 2-1 instead of down 3-0.

Worst of all, dumbass commentators are going on and on about how "star power" is the reason this series is 3-0. People, this isn't Super Mario or Rock Band. I don't mean to undervalue Durant and Westbrook; they hit some tough shots in game 1. But there's not some mythical "star" quality about them that makes the Thunder win; the Nuggets choking from the FT line, and the Thunder bigs outplaying their Nuggets counterparts, is making the difference.

Anonymous The Other Chris said...
If you want to talk Basketbawful, the "offense" in most of the fourth quarter of the Atlanta/Orlando game.. good God, my eyes, they burn from all the suck!!

Orlando: If we can't get the ball to Dwight Howard.. oh shit.. you mean someone else on the team is supposed to be able to do something?

Atlanta: Isolate Joe Johnson or Jamal Crawford, who won't start their move until 6-7 seconds are left on the shot clock - way too late to create a good shot, give themselves an option to pass (of course why would either one of those two black holes ever pass it). "Create" a big pile of poopy poop which results in a turnover or a bad shot.

And, you know you're in trouble when Gilbert Arenas is the only one on your team contributing besides your all-world center.

And, Hedo-poo-poo.. you SUCK. Have fun playing in the Turkish league next year. Why is he still on the floor at all? Ryan Anderson is better. As in, he can actually shoot the rock.

Karma's a bitch, motherfucker. BALL!!!

Anonymous Karc said...
Chris Paul had the same number of rebounds as Bynum and Gasol combined (13). And the Hornets were +16 in 2nd chance points. Pretty much says it all. And as should be pointed out, this is without David West.

Clay Bennett is probably smoking a cigar somewhere laughing historically. He might just get home court for the next two rounds the way things are going. Thunder are poised for a sweep (albeit with some help from the refs) while the three seeds above them have to go at least 6 games to advance.

Anonymous Anonymous said...
http://gif.mocksession.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/PAUGASLOL.gif

gasol ruined a perfect play from kobe when all lakers fans expected him to chuck up an early 3 after he sprained his ankle in the 4th quarter

Anonymous popop143 said...
Can you please revive Footbawful? I think the concept is great! Please? :D

Anonymous Bing said...
Chris Paul should never be out of the Best PG In The League conversation ever again. Ever.

In other news KB24 threw up a world of suck in the first half today 0-7, nice. Oh well, back to LA and NO and probably LA again.

Blogger winnetou said...
Ragib: NBA basketball is a niche topic of interest in Europe as well, but whenever there's been a slightly noteworthy Mavs game, it ends up on the front page of news sites anyway. At least that's the case in Germany and on the sites I visit (during the regular season, grrr).
Did they do the same thing in Australia for Luc Longley way back when or for Lauren Jackson and Penny Taylor?

Anonymous Cetti said...
Winnetou, the same here. Never ever could I wait until the following afternoon without getting a message from someone that the Mavs failed again or spox.com releasing the biggest header of the day concerning the playoffs. so theres no other option than to fight through the night and pass on classes the other day.

Anonymous Mladen said...
@Lotharbot:

I hear you, man. I mean, since Game 1, the headlines on NBA-freaking-.com were along the lines of "Star power too much for star-less Nuggets"... Come on! A team does not have to have a so-called "star" to be good, or to be able to win a playoff series. If everybody contributes, and does what they're each good at, the team can have a very balanced and unpredictable (in a good way) game. I'm tired of the media pushing this idea, especially because it implies that having, let's say, STAT and 'Melo on your team, surrounded by a bunch of scrubs, is somehow so much better than having about 9-10 guys who, even though they probably won't explode for 40 points, can play well and make a meaningful contribution almost every night. That makes your bench deep, and it means that your opponents can't just base their strategy on wearing out your "go-to guy".

Like you said, the Nuggets fucked up with the free throws, and were obviously lacking morale (and courage?) at certain times. I hope, for the sake of our argument, that they will at least put up a fight, and make the Thunder work for the series win.

(For the record, I like both the Thunder and the Nuggets, and was also sad to see them face off at the very beginning of the playoffs...)

Blogger Ragib said...
winnetou - No, in Australia it's frustratingly difficult to find anything NBA related at all. The only NBA related articles I've seen all year were 2 things related to Andrew Bogut, and Kobe with his Gay Slur the other week. I don't if they wrote about Luc Longley or those other guys, I've only been watching since '07.


To all - Hawks are up 3-1 against Orlando, Hornets are 2-2 with the Lakers, Memphis is 2-1 on the Spurs. If anyone had a multi-bet on that, a $10 investment would have made them like 20G's ! lol

Anonymous Batmanu said...
I was delighted when Pau dropped that beautiful dish from Kobe late in the fourth. I think that lost them the game.

And it felt goooood. *Dr. Evil laugh*

Anonymous EuroGuy said...
Derrick Caracter got arrested for grabbing and pulling a cashier at an IHOP early Sunday morning near the Lakers team hotel in New Orleans. I don't know if it qualifies for a WOTN, but it was probably the most action, he will see in the playoffs. And he might have put an end to a not-so-promising NBA career (his own).